Ex-Lightning defenseman Ranger coaching bantam team

Paul Ranger, a smooth-skating defenseman who left the Lightning in October 2009 to deal with a personal matter and has not returned, is an assistant coach for a bantam team in Whitby, Ontario, his hometown.

The team's head coach is David Branch, for whom Ranger played minor hockey for four years before moving on to the junior Ontario league and then the Lightning, which drafted Ranger in the sixth round in 2002.

Before the start of Lightning training camp last season, general manager Steve Yzerman said Ranger was “sorting out what he wants to do with his hockey career and with his life. At this time he’s not prepared to commit to coming back to the NHL, and I respect his position.”